🤑 The truth about tariffs

How trade policy impacts skincare prices ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

Can't see this email? View in Your Browser Hi there!  This is Julie, Blissoma's founder.   I love sending you notes that uplift and inspire.  Sometimes, though, there's a time and place to discuss more serious topics.   At Blissoma we've often been more than just a skincare brand.   Empowering people through education has always been one of our goals.   Right now there's a political issue that does directly affect our ability to make skincare for you.   We're talking about tariffs.   While the average person probably doesn't think about tariffs daily we have personal experience with this directly impacting Blissoma.   Today I'd like to share our experiences, and our concern about the potential impact of the outcome of the presidential election.   Tariffs are just one issue, and there are many to consider.   A lot of misinformation is being spread about tariffs, and implementing them without careful thought could drastically impact the economy.   I feel it's my responsibility on behalf of our customers, our staff, our farmers, and others that count on Blissoma's viability to speak up. Tariffs are a type of tax that is charged when goods are brought into a country from another country. Tariffs are also an economic tool to help influence trade between countries. What's getting misrepresented a lot is who pays tariffs and how they help or hurt USA businesses and consumers. We have personal experience with tariffs because we pay them to import our opal white glass bottles. We've chosen to use glass bottles for the vast majority of our products for a wide variety of reasons including environmental sustainability, preventing waste, and limiting chemicals that may leach from plastics.   There are very, very few USA based glass bottle manufacturers, so unfortunately buying within the USA was not an option.   The majority of the glass bottle industry is based in China and Italy.   There are a number of plastic bottle manufacturers in the USA but the main glass containers that are manufactured domestically are items like jugs and basic food containers.   In 2018 the Trump administration put a number of tariffs in place, including a new tariff on imports of bottles and other containers manufactured in China.   The tariff rate on bottles and similar containers coming from China was set at 25% in 2018  That tariff is still in place. Blissoma pays the tariffs on the bottles we import.   The Chinese government doesn't pay tariffs on their exports to us.   The Chinese manufacturers don't pay tariffs on their exports to us.   USA companies pay tariffs to import goods, and then pass those costs onto customers by building them into the retail price of products.   So when tariff increases are proposed it will be USA companies and USA shoppers paying the tariffs.   This week the Trump campaign has been talking about increasing tariff rates on goods imported from China to 60% to 100%.   There are no comparable USA glass manufacturers we can purchase from, and all our packaging designs and existing printed boxes and labels are based on our current bottles.  It is not economically or practically possible for us to switch at this time.   Here's how a tariff rate of 100% could affect the price of a product: Container cost: $.54 x Tariff of 25%: $.135 __________________ Real cost of container $.675   Container cost: $.54 x Tariff of 100%: $.54 ___________________ Real cost of container $1.08   New container cost - current container cost = increase of $.405   An increase of $.405 may not seem like a lot, but keep in mind that every penny of increase in cost to the raw materials and components in a product will result in a much larger difference to the final retail price.   Based on profit margins and pricing schemes that are common in the beauty industry we can estimate that increases in raw materials costs will generate an increase of the cost change x6.   So $.405 in materials costs turns into a $2.43 increase in the retail price you pay.   There is no way companies (especially indie manufacturers) can just absorb these costs.  They will get passed through to customers.   Imagine this cost increase impacting a full personal care routine of 10-12 products and it starts to sting even more.   What's more, Trump's tariff proposals include a 20% tariff on ALL imports. (source)   The botanical industry is especially globally based.   Plants often have a specific place in the world where they grow best.  They evolve to suit the soil, weather, pests, and other factors in that part of the world.   For example Baobab trees grow in sections of Africa, Madagascar, India, Ceylon, Australia, and Zimbabwe.   They do NOT grow or thrive naturally in the USA.   We import our Baobab oil directly from Africa.  Our purchases support their local economy and we get a gorgeous, allergy-friendly oil.   Our Tamanu oil comes directly from Vanuatu, and our Cupuacu butter comes from Brazil.   The rose industry is heavily based in places like Turkey, Bulgaria, and Morocco.   Frankincense comes largely from Somalia and Oman.   The global connections we build are a beautiful thing.   We also love sourcing herbs super close to home, but we absolutely cannot make our amazing recipes without the ingredients we import.   Other skincare brands would be similarly affected.   Take the same type of math above for our containers and imagine tacking an extra 20% cost onto the rest of our raw materials, and you can see how the container cost rising is just the start of how our cost of goods would increase. Manufacturers in the USA have already been trying to get the 25% tariff on Chinese containers eliminated because it has put substantial pressure on our businesses during an unprecedented time of economic upheaval and inflation. (source)   I actually wrote to the Biden administration several years ago to request that they please eliminate the current tariffs.  Unfortunately that did not happen.   We very much want to keep our products as affordable as possible for you.    We know that many of our customers stretch their budgets to purchase our products, and it means a lot to us.     Unfortunately if Trump's tariff plans become reality we will have no choice but to increase our prices again.   And we're not alone.   Small businesses in all kinds of fields would absolutely have to do the same. (source) Small businesses have already been squeezed super hard for years.    We've dealt with increased costs on all fronts (raw materials, shipping, labor, insurance...) while trying to keep our products competitively priced and our teams employed.   Large businesses may be able to absorb some of these costs more easily just due to their scale.  Small businesses have no wiggle room left.   A broad increase in tariffs will mean increased prices on many, many of the items people purchase in their daily lives.   (Coffee, chocolate, and vanilla are a few more items that don't grow well in most of the USA so if you love those you'll definitely feel the squeeze)   A nonpartisan, nonprofit economist group is estimating that the average American household would bear $2600 in additional expenses each year due to the Trump tariff plan. (source)    Other sources are estimating possibly $7000+ in additional expenses for a household due to how an extreme tariff policy would impact the cost of the goods we all buy in our daily lives.   Tariffs are also proven to disproportionately shift the tax burden to middle and lower income households.   If you've felt strained by inflation in the last few years the Trump tariff plan will absolutely make your everyday costs much worse.   The economic impact of tariffs goes beyond what we import and also affects what we export.    Tariffs often cause backlash in relationships with other countries.  Exports of goods made in the USA could slow if countries implement tariffs on USA made products as a response to our tariffs on their products. Truly, we just want to do the work we love and help people with their skin.    We don't need any more challenges like a reckless, ill-considered tariff policy that risks the wellbeing of our supply chain.   We know that if we have to increase prices again we'll lose a chunk of our customers.  Sometimes a small business doesn't survive that process.   Small businesses are 99.9% of the businesses in the USA. (source)   Small businesses employ 61.7 million Americans, representing 46.4% of private sector employees.   Massive tariff changes and their impacts could cause many small businesses to fail, resulting in job losses in addition to huge disruptions to the cost of living.   The entire Blissoma team is asking you to please not take us down the road of another Trump presidency.    We love our jobs, we love our work, we love our suppliers, we love our customers, and we love our fellow small businesses.    We want to thrive.   Please do not empower people that would act recklessly with our economy.   Tariff policies are not something to implement lightly.   They have deep economic impacts and need to be thoughtful and careful.   The Trump tariff policy proposals are basically a nightmare for small businesses, and directly threaten our survival. I hope that greater understanding of this topic will help you vote from an informed perspective on Tuesday, November 5th.   We know that our customer base likely has diverse views.    Because of that we know that we risk some upset feelings with our customer base by bringing this up.  We've decided we prefer the risk of discussing politics with people to the risk we face if Trump is elected.   Please know that we are simply hoping to help you understand our direct experience with this topic and illustrate the path that could be ahead should proposed tariff changes become actual policy.   We want to be able to be here for you in the future.   If you feel this explanation of tariffs could help someone you know please forward it to them.    Compassion, kindness, reason, and the opportunity to continue to build a fair and just economy are are principles that guide Blissoma daily, and we hope to see them reflected more in the world each day.   Thank you for your time reading this.    I hope it has brought you some value and can create greater understanding.   With hope, Julie   Stay Connected Blissoma Holistic Skincare | 314-771-5006 | customerservice@blissoma.com | WWW.BLISSOMA.COM   © 2024 Irie Star LLC Don't want to receive our emails anymore?Unsubscribe